Container for use with fork lift trucks



March 11, 1958 M. H. BECKNER 2,826,329

CONTAINER FOR USE WITH FORK LIFT TRUCKS Filed Nov. 13. 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR. (anal/ALL /v. gscxr/a z,

Marh 11, 1958 M. H. BECKNER CONTAINER FOR USE WITH FORK LIFT TRUCKS Filed Nov. 15. 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mvron I TTOEl/EY' I March 11 1958 M. H. BECKNER CONTAINER FOR USE WITH F ORK'LIFT TRUCKS 4-Shee t-Shee1", 5

Filed Nov. 13. 1956 INVENTOK/ metal/444 A! 5 ck ER Jul;

6 7" TOP March 11, 1958 CONTAINER FOR USE WITH FORK LIFT TRUCKS F'ile'd Nov. 1;. 1956 M. H. B-ECK-NER. 2,826,329

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. zTZzrawaazz fi giacxfltJa United States Patent CONTAINER FOR USE WITH FORK LIFT TRUCKS Marshall H. Beckner, Washington, Pan, assignor to Tri- State Engineering Company, Washington, Pa., a corporation of Maryland Application November 1-3, 1956, Serial No. 621,885

S'Ciaims. (Cl. nil-69) My invention relates to containers that are preferably of wire mesh and metal frame construction.

It has for its object the production of containers of the type referred to that are conveniently stackable upon one another and which are especially suitable for use in transporting and storing articles of merchandise, etc., in that they can readily be moved into and out of railway car and truck bodies, for loading and unloading, and into and out of warehouses.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is view of a container embodying my invention;

' 2 is a view taken on the line IIII of Fig. 1;

" 3 is an end view of the container;

. 4 is a bottom plan view thereof;

' 5 is a View taken on the line V-V of Fig. 3; 6 is a sectional view showing the rear side Wall container;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the latch or slide bar of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7A is an end view of the latch bar;

Fig. 8 is a face view thereof;

Fig. 9 is an inner side View of the latch bar and a portion of the container in which it is mounted;

Fig. 10 is an edge view of a keeper for the slide bar;

Fig. 11 is a perspective viewshowing the corner arrangement of two of the underframe members for the deck sheet of Fig. 4;

Fig. 12 is a side view of one of the legs or feet of the structure; Fig. 13 is a plan view thereof;

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing one of the corner posts of the structure, and

Figs. 15 and 16 are fragmentary vertical sectional and plan views, respectively, of modifications.

The structure comprises welded mesh members that form end walls 15, a rear wall 16 and a front wall 17, the front wall comprising upper and lower panels 18 and 1.9 respectively, that are hingedly connected by a spiral member 2%, so that the top wall, when unlatched, can be swung outwardly and downwardly to provide convenient access to the interior of the container. stiffening channels 15a are welded on the upper edges of the end walls. The bottom or deck 22 is likewise of welded mesh form.

The deck sheet 22 is supported by an underframe that comprises longitudinally-extending sheet metal members 23 of generally channel form and end members 24 of generally channel form, the members 23 'and 24, however, having upstanding flanges 25 and 26 respectively, and they are welded together at the corners of the structure, to form a rigidly rectangular framework. The flanges 25 are slightly higher than the flanges 26, because theupper wires of the deck are welded thereto, while the lower wires of the deck are welded to the flanges 26, so that the deck will be level.

The frame includes also brace bars 28 and 29 of angular form that are welded at their ends to frame members 23. Brace bars 30 of angular form are welded at their ends to the sides of the bars 28 and 29, the deck "ice 2 wires being welded to the upper edges of the bars 28, 29 and 30.

Corner posts 32 of angular form are welded to the end walls 15, the rear side wall 16 and the front lower panel 19 and at their lower ends, are welded to the frame members 252'6; Legs 33 are-welded to the lower ends of the corner posts and to the lower sides of the frame members 23-24 and have tapered extensions 35 that will extend into holes in upper plates 36 that are welded in the angular posts 32, when stacking the container on another container of like form. The posts also have gusset plates 37 welded therein to strengthen the same.

At each end of the crate, the feet are connected by a base strip 38 which extends to a slightly lower plane than the bottoms of the feet 35, so that they will take the weight when the crate is set on a flat floor, thus relieving the relatively small stacking members 35 of the weight. Also, the strips facilitate travel of the container on the rollers of skids or conveyors, or in sliding across a floor. Since the corner posts extend upwardly past the side posts a considerable distance, the strips 38 will not rest upon the side walls when the crates are stacked. Spacers 39 of angular form are welded to the frame members 24 and. the base strips 38.

The upper panel 18- of the front side wall is releasably held in raised position by latch bars 40 that are of looped form as shown more clearly in Fig. 7, adjacent vertical rods 41 of this upper panel being loosely embraced by the loop, which is long enough to permit sliding of the latch bars from their latched positions in Fig. 1 to their release positions. The bars has an elongated slot 43 as shown in Fig. 9, to receive the downwardly bent end of a guide rod 42 which is welded to the side wall and serves to guide the rear or inner end of the latch bar and hold its longitudinal slot 43' (Fig. 7A) in position to vertically support the latch bar on a mesh wire 44 of the side wall. A finger hole 45 is provided in the latch bar for sliding it back and forth. A welded rod or wire 46 may also serve this purpose.

The latch bars are slidable behind the posts 22, to hold the upper panel against outward tilting movement. It is held against inward movement by a strap-like keeper 47 whose legs are welded to the mesh, the latch bar being slidable into the space between said legs.

An important feature of my invention resides in the structure and mounting of the latch bar 40, in that it does not project outwardly beyond the plane of the horizontal Wires 44 of the side wall (Fig. 9). Also, the posts and the base frame members are flush with one another at the outer faces of the container. This is of importance in railway cars where there is some shifting of the containers and rubbing of them against one another during travel, and they can slide along one another readily when being loaded side-by-side.

Also, the latch bar is held by gravity in its latched position, since when it is moved fully forward, its shoulder portion 43 will drop from the horizontal wire 44 into position to engage behind the lower horizontal leg of the keeper 47. Also, the rear end of the latch bar will drop from the guide rod 42. To release the latch, the finger hole 45 will be used or the lifting bar 46, by the fingers of the operator, so that the bar can be raised and pushed back to release position.

The wide base flanges or legs of the members 23 and 24, as well as the lower legs of the angles 28, 29 and 3t), give great tensional strength to the underframe, in resistance to the bending stresses of the vertical loads. Also, the upper legs, including their extensions 25 and 26 offer great resistance to bending of the base or underframe when the container is raised by lift forks. This is particularly important where two or three containers 1.3 are stacked on one another and the lifting forks are brought into position beneath the frame members 23 and 24 of the lowermost container.

Another advantage of the construction shown is that the framework lends itself readily to the use of either mesh walls or removable sheets of plywood or the like.

As shown in Fig. 15, a mesh bottom 22 is welded to or placed loosely upon the upstanding flanges 25 and 26 and vertical walls 50 are substituted for the mesh walls, they being inserted loosely into the upper channels 15b which are welded to the vertical legs as shown in Figs. 15 and 16, these walls being inserted by moving them from the dotted line position to the full line position. Spaces are left at the ends of the channels 15b and the wall 50 at each end ofthe container to receive the side walls 51 which, as shown in Fig. 16, will rest upon the frame members 23 and 24. The end walls 50 and the side walls 51 are thus held against falling. Stops 52 welded to the channels 24 at points intermediate the posts prevent bulging of the lower mid portion of the end walls 50.

In Fig. 16, a bottom Wall 53 of plywood or the like is substituted for the mesh sheet 22, or can be placed on a bottom mesh sheet.

As shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 4, in no case does any part of the container project beyond the corner posts nor the base bars 23 and 24, thus avoiding damage to the containers through shifting under transportation shocks.

I claim as my invention:

1. A container that comprises vertical side walls, a bottom Wall, an underframe of rectangular form that has channels whose web portions are in vertical planes and whose leg portions extend inwardly, the channels being connected together at the corners of the frame, feet that support the frame at its corners, and corner posts disposed above the feet and secured to the ends of the channels, the vertical walls being carried by the upper legs of the channels, and the upper legs of the channels having upstanding flanges upon which the bottom wall rests.

2. A container that comprises vertical side walls, a

bottom wall, an underframe of rectangular form that has channels whose web portions are in vertical planes and whose leg portions extend inwardly, the channels being connected together at the corners of the frame, feet that support the frame at its corners, corner posts that are angular in cross section disposed above the feet and secured to the channels, the upper legs of the channels having upstanding flanges at their inner edges, and the vertical walls extending into the angles of the posts and seated upon the said upper legs of the channels, at the outer sides of the said flanges.

3. A structure as recited in claim 2, wherein the bottom wall is supported upon the upper edges of the said flanges.

4. A structure as recited in claim 3, wherein the two posts at two opposite sides of the container are connected by a downwardly open channel into which the upper edges of two of the vertical walls extend.

5. A container that comprises vertical side walls, a bottom wall, underframe of rectangular shape formed of channels whose Web portions are in vertical planes and their leg portions extend inwardly, the channels being welded together at the corners of the frame, feet that support the frame at its corners, corner posts that are angular in cross section disposed above the feet and secured to the channels the upper edges of the channels having upstanding flanges at their inner edges that support the bottom Wall and the vertical walls extending into the angles of the posts and seated upon the said upper legs of the channels, the lower surfaces of the channels being in a common plane and partly overlapping one another at each corner of the underframe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,644,472 Hatch Oct. 4, 1927 2,029,746 Tufts et al. Feb. 4, 1936 2,457,842 Smith et al. Jan. 4, 1949 2,497,453 Hazen Feb. 14, 1950 2,541,846 Ullrich et al. Feb. 13, 1951 2,667,319 Coit Jan. 26, 1954 2,705,604 Averill Apr. 5, 1955 

